More pictures

Per several requests (and my own desire to show off my gorgeous, adorable children.):

New pictures

We had 6 month pictures taken in February, including some family ones. They turned out absolutely adorable. Here is a favorite of ours:

A few of my favorite things, 2011

Here is what I am using and loving right now:

My nook. I scoffed when this and the kindle first were introduced. I thought "ugh, I never want that!" But in reality it save SO much space, not only in the house but on the go. It is a lot lighter and easier to carry then some books. I can switch books if I get bored with one. It has a built in dictionary. I don't have to go to the store to get a new book, they download to it in seconds. I encourage you to get one, you'll love it.

My kids. Right now my life revolves around their every need. I love mothering. Chiropractic is what I do, mothering is what I am. I delight in them and they bring me great joy and fun!


Coffee plus Cappuccino mix. Current favorites are double mocha, white chocolate and caramel, and french vanilla (with french vanilla coffee). I can't wait for that first cup. I allow myself two a day and adore just sitting with the cup in my hands, smelling the deliciousness. A real luxury is a enjoying a cup (using my favorite mug from Mt. Rushmore-it's the perfect size) while enjoying my Creating Keepsakes magazine.

Rubber gloves. This seems odd but you can't imagine how many dishes I do...maybe you can. These have become a life line in the fight against dry and cracking hands. My only complaint is that they are a boring yellow. I wish I had some that were a pretty purple (my favorite color) or some fancy/pretty design. Really, that's all I'm asking for!

My smart phone. Really this is a love/hate relationship. Honestly, my phone is crap...but it allows me to check my email, use Facebook, besides text and stay in touch. We will be switching providers because our current one was bought out, therefore I will be getting a new phone. This was supposed to occur in late January, then late February and now they are telling us March or April. Ugh!!!!!! I am looking forward to the Blackberry that I will receive, it can't come soon enough.

Triplet Connection forum. Let's be honest most (or none) of you understand the complexity of having triplets. The joys as well as the frustrations. I have found this forum to be a lifesavor and use it or check it often. It's nice to talk to other mothers in the same boat.

Smartypig. What is that?? It's an online savings account Shawn and I started a few months ago. The best part...there is an undisclosed amount of money in it!!!!!!!!!! That's right, people, we are saving!! Me the big spender!!!! This is probably the thing I am most proud about right now. Besides saving to have a contingency fund, we are also working to save for our first house. Someday....

Emealz. Another handy, dandy website which allows me to cook nutritious meals for my family without having to figure out recipes etc for my family. We've been doing it for several months and I bet Shawn loves it too. My very un-creative mind can only think of about a handful of recipes to make including: eggs, spaghetti, meatloaf, pancakes and that's about it. Imagine having those every week over and over. Thank you, Emealz, you're a life savor!

5 Love Languages

There is a book by Mr. Chapman which talks about the languages of love, which are ways in which others show us love. Each of us has a different love language, one of the following: acts of service, words of affirmation, physical touch, quality time and gifts. Which one is yours??? According to the author, your love language can be identified by age 3. Evie's is quality time. She frequently asks you to "play in my woom" and wants to be read to. Just a short time ago she asked if she could work on her puzzle while I worked (aka blogged). She loves to go on walks with you and just be with you in general. She wants to sit on my "wap" everyday.

This information really struck me today. How can I show Evie each and everyday that I love her? And did she feel my love yesterday?? What quality time have we shared??

Here are some new photos of Evie:

Reading Cinderella. Apparently there is a part out her not wearing her socks and getting in trouble. Funny, I never heard that version!

Being read to by Great-Uncle Craig

Evie tells me all the time she is "tired" which is Evie speak for I want a snack in my room while I look at my books. This is because even though she no longer takes official naps I do like her to rest (so I can have quiet for me and for the babies afternoon naps.) She is still in her pajamas because she's had a cold. This day she actually fell asleep, hand in snack trap. CUTE!

Ella, 7 months

Her favorite toy, the black and white piece is great for chewing.

This is how she sits in the bouncer. It's the best position for crazy bouncing!

Look at those gorgeous eyelashes!! So jealous!! She has the bluest eyes. At this point she may be the only one to get my blue eyes.

Ella is such a character. She is our little kangaroo. She loves to jump and jump. Mostly she likes to lay in her bouncer and get that thing bouncing so hard that her head lifts off the back and sometimes the back leaves the floor. She loves it!!!!! She could spend hours in there. Over a month ago we stopped bouncing her and Henry to sleep at night because we didn't want them to become dependent on it. Now, however, she can still bounce herself to sleep...and does. There will be times where she will wake up a little and get herself bouncing for even a few seconds back to sleep. If you try to stop her from bouncing she will not only use her legs for bouncing but will arch up to use her whole body. It's crazy!!! Not only does she bounce during play and night but now she is interrupting bottles with her bouncing. Her motto is, "Let's get moving, people!!!" I told Shawn that we ought to watch out that she doesn't some how get her legs around the boys, she's got such strong legs she's bound to squeeze the life out of them.

Ella loves to eat but is SO messy. Food all over her face and hands. There is a special trick to it as well, you have to get the spoon back and behind her tongue. She loves all of her food. Never turns it down. Never turns away. I think she would just eat and eat. Eventually though she makes little effort to swallow and the food runs out of her mouth. She has no favorite food. On Thursday she finally cut her first tooth. I think that there has been some drool but nothing horribly noticeable, thus the use of the word "think." She didn't sleep as well as normal. Nothing horrible, she awoke once ate 70ml of her bottle and went back to sleep. When I tried to put her in her crib she wouldn't sleep so she spent the night in her bouncer. I slept on the couch and she didn't wake again til we awoke her for the next bottle. I can live with that.

Ella has come full circle. In the first few months she was the BIG smiler. No matter what you did you were rewarded with a huge smile. Then she stopped smiling as much and as easily. She instead wore a steady frown, even in sleep. Now she is once again our biggest and easiest smiler. Nothing in particular causes these gigantic grins. She also gets to laughing the easiest. Click your tongue or even hint that you are going to tickle and she starts giggling. LOVE it!!! Ella is more of a yeller then a talker. Not mad yelling just she likes to be loud. Lately she's also developed a love of making noises like tongue clicking or blowing bubbles.

She's about to blow bubbles.

I feel bad for Ella in that she typical never has a first, first. However, this weekend she has a first before the boys: first to visit the ER. Poor thing, not the first you especially want. All of the kids have been battling colds, except Ella developed croup with hers. Not the worst symptom or problem you could have but it sure sounds awful and can lead to difficulty breathing because of the swelling of your voice box. We were in IA and she started developing stridor. We were heading home early because of a winter storm, so once home I took her straight to the ER. It was a short visit, they got us in and out, for once. She didn't look like a little girl who was ill. HUGE smiles, lots of jumping and excitement, to the point that both the doctor and nurse wanted to know if she's "always this happy?" They administered some steroids to reduce the swelling and by 10 or 11pm she was sounding so much better.

This is what croup looks like. She's so sick looking!!!

Henry, 7 months

It appears Henry has developed the A problem of blinking during pictures, just like daddy, Auntie Laura and Great-Grandma Maurine.

Evie loves Henry!!

Henry is such a character. He is content to suck on his hands, and be in a bouncer or under the play mat. His motto is "Whatever." Don't get me wrong, he does cry and can get very angry. Most often it involves hunger, and it involves the worst screaming, as evidence by his rage at Shawn Thursday morning for taking so long to change his diaper and get the bottle. Most often though Henry is our "talker." He yaks up a storm. And unlike the more gutteral noises of his siblings he is using more inteligible sounds. His favorite one by far, and to his father's pride and delight, is "da-da-da." He repeats this all day long and sometimes in the wee hours of the morning. We awoke Tuesday morning at 2:30 to these happy squeals and Henry calling "da-da-da" If he's not talking in this way he has begun to growl. Most often this occurs when he is "attacking" Shawn's fingers, arm or his toys. Something like "rrrrrrrrrrr" and then he gums whatever is near. As you guessed...adorable. Henry is also our breather. You can hear him breathing hard and he enjoys listening to himself. Connected to this is that he is also a snorer. He sleeps next to me still and it makes me smile every night to hear that little snore. I think I shall miss it intensely when the time comes that he can sleep in his own crib.

"Talking"

Henry is a good eater. He has no favorites and will eat everything I put in front of him. He does, however, make a sour face for the first couple of spoonfuls of most of his foods. He's become really good at moving the food to the back of his throat and swallowing. It makes for much less mess!!!! No teeth yet. None that I can even see under the surface or feel. It doesn't really matter as the few times I've put finger foods in front of him he's shown no interest. Hasn't even tried to pick them up, he doesn't even look at them.

Shortly after birth one of the NICU doctors noted that Henry had a hydrocele (similar to a hernia-except fluid filled instead of intestines) in his scrotum. We were referred to a pediatric surgeon at almost 2 months because his pediatrician and I worried it was a hernia (I had forgotten the doctor in the NICU mention it). That 2 second appointment (literally) reassured us that it would disappear on its own, likely by 6 months. At 6 months Henry still had it but on Monday during bath, I noticed that it had disappeared. Yeah!!!

Henry is an easy smiler. He has these big cheeks you almost want to pinch, but please refrain yourselves. We are still trying to get him to sleep in his crib because he is our most difficult night sleeper. He starts out in a bouncer and if he starts crying he gets moved to his swing. Only occasionally have we made it without the swing. We are not sure what we are going to have to do once he out grows them. Luckily he can be in the swing up to 30 lbs. He's big, but not that big. Soon he will outgrow the swaddle and it's my hope that by then he will also just become as easygoing in sleep as he is during the day.

Henry is a really good roller. He just does it slowly, taking half an hour to roll across around the room, but he does it. I don't think he realizes that he can cross a room with the rolling but he does enjoy it. He has started to enjoy kicking and thrashing around. He really enjoys this type of play. Henry would like to just chill with you. He doesn't necessarily need entertaining but just like to be with you. He's good at chilaxing.

Grant, 7 months

"I know that I've only been on the floor for 2 seconds and you are busy but I REALLY need attention and distraction!!"

Grant and his "lovie."

"Getting" Evie

This little man is such a character. We've finally figured out that he thinks he should be the center of our world, all the time. He must've thought that in-utero for all the drama he was causing with his high S/D ratio and subsequent umbilical blood flow stop which led to their birthday, July 23rd. Then he needed the C-PAP, had a pnuemothorax and required more NICU time. Now all he wants is our attention. He LOVES attention. He HATES being by himself. His motto is: "It's all about me!!" Perhaps he intuitively knows that he was/is the smallest AND the youngest and wants to overcome this by being the loudest and most demanding. Or maybe he is trying to establish himself as the alpha dog? Unfortunately, he is learning very early that as one of 3 babies and one of 4 kiddos, it can't be all about him. He certainly is NOT going to let us forget about him (as if that was possible) or let himself be steam rolled by his bigger and "older" siblings. The one area where Grant isn't the loudest is actual "talking." He likes to say "mmmm" a lot and has recently discovered his tongue and "ppllllllhhhh" at us but isn't the biggest contributor to our conversations.

Grant gives us the biggest smiles. He can be screaming bloody murder in his crib and the second he sees you SMILE!! He has already begun fake crying to get attention, no tears. His smile just got cuter because in the last month he has gotten his 2 bottom teeth. He gives us hope that this teething thing will be a breeze. No drooling, no fussiness, no disturbed sleep, no fever. If I wasn't on tooth alert we would've missed their arrival. He's going to need those two teeth because he sure loves to eat. We've tried peas, sweet potatoes, bananas and carrots in the last month. If I don't get the mixture just right and he finds it a little sour I can't get another bit into his mouth. He goes into "keep that stuff away from me" mode. This is completely and utterly adorable. Hands over his mouth in little fists, eyes closed and head down. If he had a protective shield he would've activated it.

Check out his first teeth!!!

Like all babies Grant enjoys putting everything in his mouth, especially his "lovie" and burp clothes. It's probably how he's managing the teething discomfort. He has always been the first to explore toys but his favorite thing is faces. He grabs hold of lips, noses, cheeks and "explores." I find it endearing, sometimes a little painful. I have to make sure to keep his finger nails short or risk getting scratched. He makes the cutest explorer face full of deep concentration. Maybe he'll be a scientist as he is always trying to figure out his toys instead of play with them.

Grant has been the mover and the shaker. At first I was afraid he'd never do anything "first" but now he's prone to leaving his siblings in the dust. Luckily he hasn't been the first for everything, giving his siblings a chance to shine. He is however, the master roller and though he doesn't officially sit yet, he has been able to stay upright seated the longest. Like everything else I look forward to this milestone and want to rush them and then on days like today I realize just how quickly time is passing and want to slow them down.

Grant is the poorest sleeper. He continues to nap on his tummy and most of the time goes to sleep easily. However, he refuses to stay asleep for long periods. At this age babies should sleep between 2-3 hours each nap, of which they have two. I'm lucky if he will stay asleep for over an hour. Then there is today when they took a nap over 3 hours long. And like any other mom I was at a loss for what to do. "Do I start a project, nah, they'll probably wake up at any moment. Crap they've been asleep a long time, I missed out on a big project maybe I ought to start a small one. But they will probably wake up any minute." Then my thoughts shift to "Geez they've been asleep for a long time, what if something happened, what if they've suffocated, what if...." Then I look in on them, sometimes put my hands on their chest. Today when I finally gave in and checked on Grant he was un-swaddled playing with the tail and tags of his stuffed elephant. Adorable!!! I'm sure this won't happen again tomorrow as NOTHING is ever consistent. The only thing normal around here is that nothing is ever normal.

What else can I tell you about Grant? He loves his feet. He was the first to "discover" them and if you come over and he is hanging out of his sleeper with one sock on and one sock off, it's because I'm trying to give him easier access to his new toy. Grant has hair. He currently looks like a little bald elderly man, especially when he frowns and gets all sorts of forehead wrinkles. But if you look close you'll see that he actually has fine, light blond hair. He thinks it tickles whenever you rub your nose on his belly, along his sides and in his armpits. He laughed yesterday when he was "attacked" by a large bear (daddy playing with a stuffed bear). Over the weekend he developed a new "face" where he smiled while squinting his eyes. It is beyond cute, but trying to catch one on film is like trying to catch a fairy. When he gets excited, while laying on his back, he will do a little butt shimmy with both legs bicycling. It is funny, and adorable, and cute. Pretty much how I would describe everything he and his siblings do.

Silly eye squint faces-he does them while talking too.